The character Andrew from my novel "Green Success" I based him off of my self, I felt I needed to base every character in the novel off someone I knew, and basing this character off me allowed me to make him the most lively character in the book. Every character has a piece of me in them, but this one has the most.... I felt I got a head start in my book because I didn't have to worry about characters, I already had models for them in real life... Green Success - Andrew T. (c) 2010
Getting inspiration is more than just getting an idea, it's getting the energy and motivation to get off your lazy chair and start doing what you were inspired to do. Now I can't tel you what to get inspired about nor can I tell you how to get inspired. Creative ideas and imagination is beyond science and beyond regularity, that's why it's called creativity and ingenuity.
Creativity is the only trait where the student and the teacher are one...
Because I can't tell you how to get inspired I'll just share with you how I get inspired, because I always say trying out other peoples methods of doing things is always good, having an opened mind is part of being creative.... take every idea, and throw out the bad ones and what you will have left is a masterpiece....
So I'll start by sharing where I get my inspirations from, or at least most of them. Often I believe the main source of most of my creativity lies within my love for Nintendo. The company that dominated my childhood. Perhaps the biggest influence which inspired me to go out and explore my neighbor hood, find secret areas, hide outs and caves was obtained soon after playing the Legend of Zelds, particularly I became extremely fond of the Wind Waker. It was this game that probably gave me my love for the ocean and all things water related... now Living in California I have access to the desert, ocean, snow and grass lands. I spent most of my time in the grass lands forest area and the dessert, which were right next to each other. I believe that nature is by far the biggest inspiration for any of my works, but it wasn't until I played the Legend of Zelda series that I had the motivation to actually go outside and "discover" the beauty of nature....
Nintendo music is by far the most ingenious composition I have ever head in my life and it played a big role in my desire to compose music and my desire to create great things...
Often I catch my self drifting off into imagination land... it feels like my imagination was so big that sometimes I think I have ADD, but what ever, at least I can pay attention to mt imagination long enough to engulf my entire mind in it. Most of my imagining is done out side where the wind blows, the sun shines and leafs and cotton puffs float around, glowing in the warm air.
Now with that in mind, Nintendo Games didn't actually inspire me to become a writer, no it wasn't until I started watching Death Note that I became obsessed with it for a while. Yes, I admit I actually started sitting like L for a while and holding things with my fingertips, but eventually that phase was over after I "grew up" a little and realized he was just a fictional character. But during that time this L guy felt so real, and I then became more inspired than any other time to create my own cast of lovable characters that other people would be able to "live with" and have an experience of their own.
After watching Death Note, my first "serious" anime ( I had watched Pokemon, Yugioh, Ruoni Kenshin, DBZ and many other anime from Tonami) I had grown an obsession with these anime, and thankfully I had YouTube. Now don't go accusing me of not supporting the anime just because I watched them for free on YouTube, most of the series didn't have an English dub yet. I began to watch so much anime after that it was unbelievable, I even created a list on YouTube of the anime I watched so I could remember just in case I needed to go back and watch it again I'd be able to spell the Japanese name correctly.
After watching The Melencholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I started watching Lucky Star, and it wasn't until I started watching Lucky Star that I decided to study the way they build the characters and the way the story and things played out. I studied it hard and even made mental notes about how the show wanted the audience to perceive something. I was going to use these as a way to improve my story telling. Unfortunately Lucky Star was one of those talky talky comical no storyline anime type of thing so I didn't really learn much about story telling, but I'm glad I watched it because I learned a whole lot about characters and how unique each one was and how easy it was to remember them.
So I set out to find an anime with story, particularly (this was after I had the general idea of what I wanted my book to be about) I was searching for sad anime series. so I watched Air and Elfen Lied. Perhaps the two greatest anime series I've ever watched, although not crazy popular I liked them because of the amazing story telling and character development. I learned so much, after and even during my watching of the anime I often studied how things played out and sometimes I would watch the anime at the same time I was writing my story. (Which was dangerous because Your brain could subconsciously steal ideas)
Now I never knew anyone who was a writer, and I believe that knowing people in person who do thing is one of the biggest inspirations. Because I didn't know any writers I think it was a tough decidion to set out on such a long journey to write and know that no one else was doing it (That I knew in person) so I couldn't compete with them, nor talk with them and share ideas and stuff. So it was pretty hard, even my School Writing club wouldn't accept me because they thought I was some kind of joke (before I wrote my novel) ....but I was inspired to become famous! and it was by a "famous" person I knew, my cousin. His name was Linh and he is the lead composer for the music from the band OFTHESEVEN. His music inspired me and told me that you don't have to have some super record deal to be "famous" He was famous to me and everyone who knew him, and that was what counts, so I believe he was the only person who personal inspired me. I also started composing my own music as a result of him.
Real life experiences inspired me too, I added an arcade part in my novel because I went to Dave and Busters one weekend and I had such a fun time playing guitar hero and everybody being amazed at my "skill" at playing on a plastic guitar - through the fire and flames. Have you ever had one of those experiences where you just HAD to share it with other people? But you knew the only way was either to brag about it or take them with you some day? I've always had lots of those, experiences with friends and family that I knew were once in a lifetime times of fun. There was a lake where tons of logs floated about, the water ws clear and everyone was playing on the logs, there was a bridge and everydoby jumped off it, I was so scared but eventually I did it and it was the best part of the whole vacation. (It was in Washington State, if it had been elsewhere like California I bet there would have been a fence on the bridge or some security guard keeping watch... lame California restrictions on fun) Another time me and my cousins climbed a snowy mountain because were went to the mountains and were bored, it was a tall steep mountain and when we got to the top we put down the plastic Tupperware and stood on top of it. We peered over the sun set and the orange glazed city which lay far below us, there were no trees below so it was a clear path straight down into the frozen river, which looked like a skate park. We stood on top of the plastic kitchen tubber ware and "skated" down the hill. We were going so fast and it was such a unique experience. Don't get me wrong, I almost pee'd my pants, but it was too much fun. Maybe someday I'll incorporate those awesome experiences into my writings... (Other than this blog)
Sometimes I stand outside at night and gaze at the stars (on the roof of course) sometimes I play the Legend of Zelda just to see the "scenery" and talk to the memorably characters. These alternate realities are great, they keep us from realizing the hardships of the real world and in a way give us something to live for other than just school, work and money.
I often go on YouTube seeking YouTubers who specifically upload only their own original content, It is very inspiring to me, Draw With Me - by Mike inel was one of the biggest inspiration from a fellow YouTube who uploads his own original content. I only spoke with him one time in a Personal Message because I wanted to know when the sequel to his awesome animation was coming out and if I could help. (It was because of his video that inspired me to create my first animation and I wanted to help make the next animation with him) He told me his idea for the sequel but he had no intentions of making the sequel,.... or at least at the time, I heard one was in the works though.... So I ended up uploading my first animation with a story that was very similar to his, but also very different.... I titled it Let's Draw, and it was 5 minutes long, and it was my first ever animation which took about 1 - 3 months to draw out every frame and edit in Windows Movie Maker.... it was my masterpiece and I eventually incorporated it in my novel as well... it is a key object in the novel!
Inspiration is key to creating, please allow your self to be opened to other peoples Ideas, if you only stick to your own ideas, they may eventually become stale.
So I'll start by sharing where I get my inspirations from, or at least most of them. Often I believe the main source of most of my creativity lies within my love for Nintendo. The company that dominated my childhood. Perhaps the biggest influence which inspired me to go out and explore my neighbor hood, find secret areas, hide outs and caves was obtained soon after playing the Legend of Zelds, particularly I became extremely fond of the Wind Waker. It was this game that probably gave me my love for the ocean and all things water related... now Living in California I have access to the desert, ocean, snow and grass lands. I spent most of my time in the grass lands forest area and the dessert, which were right next to each other. I believe that nature is by far the biggest inspiration for any of my works, but it wasn't until I played the Legend of Zelda series that I had the motivation to actually go outside and "discover" the beauty of nature....
Nintendo music is by far the most ingenious composition I have ever head in my life and it played a big role in my desire to compose music and my desire to create great things...
Often I catch my self drifting off into imagination land... it feels like my imagination was so big that sometimes I think I have ADD, but what ever, at least I can pay attention to mt imagination long enough to engulf my entire mind in it. Most of my imagining is done out side where the wind blows, the sun shines and leafs and cotton puffs float around, glowing in the warm air.
Now with that in mind, Nintendo Games didn't actually inspire me to become a writer, no it wasn't until I started watching Death Note that I became obsessed with it for a while. Yes, I admit I actually started sitting like L for a while and holding things with my fingertips, but eventually that phase was over after I "grew up" a little and realized he was just a fictional character. But during that time this L guy felt so real, and I then became more inspired than any other time to create my own cast of lovable characters that other people would be able to "live with" and have an experience of their own.
After watching Death Note, my first "serious" anime ( I had watched Pokemon, Yugioh, Ruoni Kenshin, DBZ and many other anime from Tonami) I had grown an obsession with these anime, and thankfully I had YouTube. Now don't go accusing me of not supporting the anime just because I watched them for free on YouTube, most of the series didn't have an English dub yet. I began to watch so much anime after that it was unbelievable, I even created a list on YouTube of the anime I watched so I could remember just in case I needed to go back and watch it again I'd be able to spell the Japanese name correctly.
After watching The Melencholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I started watching Lucky Star, and it wasn't until I started watching Lucky Star that I decided to study the way they build the characters and the way the story and things played out. I studied it hard and even made mental notes about how the show wanted the audience to perceive something. I was going to use these as a way to improve my story telling. Unfortunately Lucky Star was one of those talky talky comical no storyline anime type of thing so I didn't really learn much about story telling, but I'm glad I watched it because I learned a whole lot about characters and how unique each one was and how easy it was to remember them.
So I set out to find an anime with story, particularly (this was after I had the general idea of what I wanted my book to be about) I was searching for sad anime series. so I watched Air and Elfen Lied. Perhaps the two greatest anime series I've ever watched, although not crazy popular I liked them because of the amazing story telling and character development. I learned so much, after and even during my watching of the anime I often studied how things played out and sometimes I would watch the anime at the same time I was writing my story. (Which was dangerous because Your brain could subconsciously steal ideas)
Now I never knew anyone who was a writer, and I believe that knowing people in person who do thing is one of the biggest inspirations. Because I didn't know any writers I think it was a tough decidion to set out on such a long journey to write and know that no one else was doing it (That I knew in person) so I couldn't compete with them, nor talk with them and share ideas and stuff. So it was pretty hard, even my School Writing club wouldn't accept me because they thought I was some kind of joke (before I wrote my novel) ....but I was inspired to become famous! and it was by a "famous" person I knew, my cousin. His name was Linh and he is the lead composer for the music from the band OFTHESEVEN. His music inspired me and told me that you don't have to have some super record deal to be "famous" He was famous to me and everyone who knew him, and that was what counts, so I believe he was the only person who personal inspired me. I also started composing my own music as a result of him.
Real life experiences inspired me too, I added an arcade part in my novel because I went to Dave and Busters one weekend and I had such a fun time playing guitar hero and everybody being amazed at my "skill" at playing on a plastic guitar - through the fire and flames. Have you ever had one of those experiences where you just HAD to share it with other people? But you knew the only way was either to brag about it or take them with you some day? I've always had lots of those, experiences with friends and family that I knew were once in a lifetime times of fun. There was a lake where tons of logs floated about, the water ws clear and everyone was playing on the logs, there was a bridge and everydoby jumped off it, I was so scared but eventually I did it and it was the best part of the whole vacation. (It was in Washington State, if it had been elsewhere like California I bet there would have been a fence on the bridge or some security guard keeping watch... lame California restrictions on fun) Another time me and my cousins climbed a snowy mountain because were went to the mountains and were bored, it was a tall steep mountain and when we got to the top we put down the plastic Tupperware and stood on top of it. We peered over the sun set and the orange glazed city which lay far below us, there were no trees below so it was a clear path straight down into the frozen river, which looked like a skate park. We stood on top of the plastic kitchen tubber ware and "skated" down the hill. We were going so fast and it was such a unique experience. Don't get me wrong, I almost pee'd my pants, but it was too much fun. Maybe someday I'll incorporate those awesome experiences into my writings... (Other than this blog)
Sometimes I stand outside at night and gaze at the stars (on the roof of course) sometimes I play the Legend of Zelda just to see the "scenery" and talk to the memorably characters. These alternate realities are great, they keep us from realizing the hardships of the real world and in a way give us something to live for other than just school, work and money.
I often go on YouTube seeking YouTubers who specifically upload only their own original content, It is very inspiring to me, Draw With Me - by Mike inel was one of the biggest inspiration from a fellow YouTube who uploads his own original content. I only spoke with him one time in a Personal Message because I wanted to know when the sequel to his awesome animation was coming out and if I could help. (It was because of his video that inspired me to create my first animation and I wanted to help make the next animation with him) He told me his idea for the sequel but he had no intentions of making the sequel,.... or at least at the time, I heard one was in the works though.... So I ended up uploading my first animation with a story that was very similar to his, but also very different.... I titled it Let's Draw, and it was 5 minutes long, and it was my first ever animation which took about 1 - 3 months to draw out every frame and edit in Windows Movie Maker.... it was my masterpiece and I eventually incorporated it in my novel as well... it is a key object in the novel!
Inspiration is key to creating, please allow your self to be opened to other peoples Ideas, if you only stick to your own ideas, they may eventually become stale.
Job 41: 11 “Everything under heaven belongs to me.”
I also believe it was because of my strong belief in the Christian faith that I became so determined to find my calling in life, my gift from God, the thing I could use to glorify him.
- Andrew T.
- Andrew T.
A very interesting post. A great way for people to get inspiration that I heard about, but don't dare try much is to actually talk with both friends and strangers. The conversations may end up leading to some surprising ideas. Many things have influenced and or intrigued me, but I generally look to the realm of fiction and I can generally find it easier to deal with things I disagree with, when I just consider them fiction.
ReplyDeleteFor me, when I started writing my first book, I already knew an author, but we are in two completely different genres, so we aren't really in competition with each other.
oh so you knew another author? I envy that, at least you knew someone in person who was actually interested in writing and things of that matter. Surprisingly enough the only people who actually read parts of my book were people I met on line, mainly from YouTube where I posted videos about it.... I'm sure I'll meet an actual author someday, like the idea of capitalism, competition is good, but working together is good too!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I knew him since Junior High, since his wife helped me out a lot and I was good friends with their daughter. I still have some contact with them and I'm still close friends with their daughter.
ReplyDeletethat's a good thing! I"m sure you will do fine if you continue to pursue writing as a career... The number 1 reason people don't ever make it to their dreams is because they quit trying.... I am at risk of this.... I lack support and often I don't have the motivation to do any work at all, but I know someone like you who not only has already u published a book, but knows another author in person will have a great shot!
ReplyDeletebut then again there are the people I've met online who are really fond of the things I do and I am very grateful for them!
ReplyDelete...especially in my YouTube writers group the people I've met there are really nice and supportive and it's a very good thing!...
Thanks. What actually motivated me to actually publish my work was my elder sister. I had written a few stories here and there, including in High school, and other people seemed impressed. My main motivation right now is just to get better, not make a profit, which is why I have not done much promotion.
ReplyDeleteI have not really joined any group in my time on YouTube, especially not writers groups. I heard that they do help out.
An author is somewhat up the alley of what I want. My ultimate goal is to have a job that pays well enough that my future spouse will not need to work and I can work at home, so my kids, in the future, can know both their parents. That's why I'm pursuing a degree in computers, so being an author might always remain a side job.
that's a good future! Writing kind of just popped up as I originally wanted to me a film maker and I had classes in film, but since a lot of my movies had good shots and effects, I knew it was missing one thing, story, so I decided to write scrips for movies and now I got so sucked into writing I might just make it my profession, Animation and Film might hopefully be the next level if my writings ever get popular enough to become anime or something, but I doubt that for now...
ReplyDeleteThanks. I used to dream about being an author, but as I aged I had new desires. Now, look at where I am. I have already published one book and have another in the works.
ReplyDeleteAlso, being an author allows me to leave something behind, because people can learn about an author's life by examining their stories. My church encourages journal writing, but I find writing fiction to be better.
Yes, you know I once used to keep a journal back when I was a little kid, I stopped because... haha, I laugh at my self for doing so now.... the only things I wrote in it were hate letters about my older brother.... I threw the journal away after I felt guilty enough.... You know it's funny how people change over time, yet fictional characters never change, I still look at "L" with the same admiration today as I had when I used to pretend I was "L"... even though fictional characters are imaginary and fake they still are able to touch and affect us far more than any real person ever could...
ReplyDeleteI was not really that interested in journal writing. They say it helps with memory development and probably generates more ideas for fiction. However, journals aren't that great. Look at our history books and actual journals from people that were either famous or alive during events that are well-known. They have made the same mistakes we all make today, yet we say we are doomed to repeating the past without studying it. Since we are humans, we all just continue making the same mistakes, but in a different manner each time. Because of that, Journals aren't worth my time.
ReplyDeleteI like how fictional characters remain the same no matter how much time has past. They do not forget the lessons they learned at the end of their story, because it has already been set that way by the author.
If anything, I think we could learn a lot of FMA and Rurouni Kenshin, even as time passes and we die before the future generation rises. People out there seem to want to gain the the omnipotent power of god on their own and I keep being reminded of Edward Elric's quote, when he talked to Rose, "Told you, Rose. Get too close to the sun, and you'll burn." Kenshin shows that any man can redeem himself and change his ways, because he regrets what he has done, just like we eventually regret our mistakes. That's how well fictional characters can touch me.
Yes, it is beautiful and I wonder how much tome and thought the authors put into the lesson and teachings of their story, did they just happen to hate society so much they thought they needed to remind us of it? (Death Note) or did they just happen to stumble across a good theme as they write (Also what the creator of Death Note had said) I also like the anime from Key/Visual Arts because they all have a valuable lesson to learn, their series so short yet so good! Air was by far one of my favorite series because the characters really did come alive to me and I actually felt for these characters when something bad happened to them....
ReplyDelete